Beverly Glenn-Copeland has been diagnosed with dementia, the trail-blazing Canadian singer-songwriter announced on Monday.
“For a while now, we have been managing — privately that is — my diagnosis of a cognitive disorder known as dementia,” Glenn-Copeland said alongside his wife, Elizabeth, in a video posted on Instagram.
The dementia has affected Glenn-Copeland’s memory and spatial cognition, “but so far, it does not impact my ability to be fully in the moment with those I love,” he said.
“One of things that’s really painful about this illness is that it’s taking Glenn away from me, away from us, a little bit at a time,” Elizabeth says in the video. “Sometimes for me, as his caretaker and his wife, it feels like death by a thousand cuts. And yet as these parts of him go, I see his essential light shining brighter than ever.”
Glenn-Copeland also announced that his current tour will be his last.
Glenn-Copeland was born in Philadelphia, but spent most of his career in Canada. In the early ‘70s, he began releasing folk records that incorporated elements of jazz, classical and blues. He also became a beloved children’s entertainer, appearing as a regular on “Mr. Dressup” and writing for “Sesame Street.”
In 1983, Glenn-Copeland released “Keyboard Fantasies,” an ambient electronic album that was recorded using only a Yamaha DX7 keyboard and Roland TR-707 drum machine. The album was met with widespread acclaim and is today recognized as a seminal work of new age music.
In 2002, Glenn-Copeland came out as a trans man. Two years later, he released “Primal Prayer” under the pseudonym Phynix.
“I am in my 80th year, and there’s no time to waste!” Glenn-Copeland told Exclaim! in an interview about his latest album, “The Ones Ahead.” “I have an entire filing cabinet full of music that has yet to be recorded, and some of it was crying out to be heard — music that is aligned to the times in which we live, aligned with my mission to be of service in these times.”
“The Ones Ahead” was a longlisted nominee for the 2024 Polaris Prize, which recognizes the year’s best Canadian album.
